You just can't imagine

Dear Doctor, What is a Herniated Disc?

You never think much about your spine, until it's out of alignment, then, all of a sudden, you're all, "Oh, my back!" Then you think to yourself, "what did I do?" Hopefully you just have a little pinch, which can be realigned in about two seconds, because more severe cases are generally centered around something called a "herniated disc". Those cases take several weeks to reset.

Explaining a "Herniated Disc" (or Disk)

I have heard people call it a "slipped disc", and I also remember hearing about a "ruptured disc" but, what is this "herniated disc"? Basically, they are all the same thing. The term herniated disc means that one of the vertebra in your spine has jammed itself into another bone, either from blunt force trauma, as in a car accident, or from a fall, or sports injury.

The pain you feel from a herniated disc is not caused by the herniation, it's actually the nerve being crushed by those bones that hurts so much. The pain is so intense, you may not even be able to move your legs. Try climbing stairs with a herniated disc. That'll be the last time you laugh at one of those stair elevator things.

So when your spine is jammed, and your bone pops out of place, that's a herniated disc. So, what do you do? Wait for it to get better, just lay there? NO. A herniated disc is a serious situation and you must get treatment right away. This chiropractic clinic, (ISS) offers the latest treatment available for herniated discs, it's called spinal decompression.

If you want more information about herniated discs, the nice people at Cedars Sinai put together a nice informational page about herniated discs which we recommend. Check it out if you want a more indepth explaination about this topic.

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